Israel Today, the West Tomorrow

Acquiescence to Islam's assault on Israel won't save Europe from a Muslim fate.

On Holocaust Memorial Day 2008, a group of just under 100 people -- Londoners and a few visitors -- took a guided tour of the old Jewish East End. They visited, among other sites of interest, the birthplace of my old chum Lionel Bart, the author of Oliver! Three generations of schoolchildren have grown up singing Bart's lyric:

Consider yourself
At 'ome!
Consider yourself
One of the family!

Those few dozen London Jews considered themselves at 'ome. But they weren't. Not any more. The tour was abruptly terminated when the group was pelted with stones, thrown by "youths"-- or to be slightly less evasive, in the current euphemism of Fleet Street, "Asian" youths. "If you go any further, you'll die," they shouted, in between the flying rubble.

A New Yorker who had just moved to Britain to start a job at the Metropolitan University had her head cut open and had to be taken to the Royal London Hospital at Whitechapel, causing her to miss the Holocaust Day "interfaith memorial service" at the East London Central Synagogue. Her friend, Eric Litwack from Canada, was also struck but did not require stitches. But if you hadn't recently landed at Heathrow, it wasn't that big a deal, not these days: Nobody was killed or permanently disfigured. And given the number of Jewish community events that now require security, perhaps Her Majesty's Constabulary was right and these Londoners walking the streets of their own city would have been better advised to do so behind a police escort.

_____________

A European Holocaust Memorial Day on which Jews are stoned sounds like a parody of the old joke that the Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz. According to a 2005 poll by the University of Bielefeld, 62 percent of Germans "are sick of all the harping on about German crimes against the Jews"—which is a cheerfully straightforward way of putting it. Nevertheless, when it comes to "harping on," these days it's the Jews who are mostly on the receiving end. While we're reprising old gags, here's one a reader reminded me of a couple of years ago, during Israel's famously "disproportionate" incursion into Lebanon: One day the U.N. Secretary General proposes that, in the interest of global peace and harmony, the world's soccer players should come together and form one United Nations global soccer team.

"Great idea," says his deputy. "Er, but who would we play?"

"Israel, of course."

Ha-ha. It always had a grain of truth, now it's the whole loaf.

Fashions do change. But however Israel changes, this fashion won't.

"Israel is unfashionable," a Continental foreign minister said to me a decade back. "But maybe Israel will change, and then fashions will change." Fashions do change. But however Israel changes, this fashion won't. The shift of most (non-American) Western opinion against the Jewish state that began in the 1970s was, as my Continental politician had it, simply a reflection of casting: Israel was no longer the underdog but the overdog, and why would that appeal to a post-war polytechnic Euro Left unburdened by Holocaust guilt?

Fair enough. Fashions change. But the new Judenhass is not a fashion, simply a stark reality that will metastasize in the years ahead and leave Israel isolated in the international "community" in ways that will make the first decade of this century seem like the good old days.

A few months after the curtailed Holocaust Day tour, I found myself in that particular corner of Tower Hamlets for the first time in years. Specifically, on Cable Street—the scene of a famous battle in 1936, when Sir Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, in a crude exercise of political muscle, determined to march through the heart of Jewish East London. They were turned back by a mob of local Jews, Irish Catholic dockers, and Communist agitators, all standing under the Spanish Civil War slogan: "No Pasaran." They shall not pass.

From "No Pasaran" to "If you go any further, you'll die" is a story not primarily of anti-Semitism but of unprecedented demographic transformation. Beyond the fashionable "anti-Zionism" of the Euro Left is a starker reality: The demographic energy not just in Lionel Bart's East End but in almost every Western European country is "Asian." Which is to say, Muslim. A recent government statistical survey reported that the United Kingdom's Muslim population is increasing ten times faster than the general population. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, and many other Continental cities from Scandinavia to the Côte d'Azur will reach majority Muslim status in the next few years.

Brussels has a Socialist mayor, which isn't that surprising, but he presides over a caucus a majority of whose members are Muslim, which might yet surprise those who think we're dealing with some slow, gradual, way-off-in-the-future process here. But so goes Christendom at the dawn of the third millennium: the ruling party of the capital city of the European Union is mostly Muslim.

There are generally two responses to this trend: The first is that it's like a cast change in Cats or, perhaps more precisely, David Merrick's all-black production of Hello, Dolly! Carol Channing and her pasty prancing waiters are replaced by Pearl Bailey and her ebony chorus, but otherwise the show is unchanged. Same set, same words, same arrangements: France will still be France, Germany Germany, Belgium Belgium.

The Islamicization of Europe entails certain consequences, and it might be worth exploring what these might be.

The second response is that the Islamicization of Europe entails certain consequences, and it might be worth exploring what these might be. There are already many points of cultural friction -- from British banks' abolition of children's "piggy banks" to the enjoining of public doughnut consumption by Brussels police during Ramadan. And yet on one issue there is remarkable comity between the aging ethnic Europeans and their young surging Muslim populations: A famous poll a couple of years back found that 59 percent of Europeans regard Israel as the greatest threat to world peace.

Fifty-nine percent? What is wrong with the rest of you? Hey, relax: In Germany, it was 65 percent; Austria, 69 percent; the Netherlands, 74 percent. For purposes of comparison, in a recent poll of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates -- i.e., the "moderate" Arab world -- 79 percent of respondents regard Israel as the greatest threat to world peace. As far as I know, in the last year or two, they haven't re-tested that question in Europe, possibly in case Israel now scores as a higher threat level in the Netherlands than in Yemen.

To be sure, there are occasional arcane points of dispute: one recalls, in the wake of the July 7 bombings, the then London Mayor Ken Livingstone's somewhat tortured attempts to explain why blowing up buses in Tel Aviv is entirely legitimate whereas blowing up buses in Bloomsbury is not. Yet these are minimal bumps on a smooth glide path: The more Europe's Muslim population grows, the more restive and disassimilated it becomes, the more enthusiastically the establishment embraces "anti-Zionism," as if the sinister Jewess is the last virgin left to toss in the volcano -- which, given the 13-year old "chavs" and "slappers" face down in pools of their own vomit in most British shopping centers of a Friday afternoon, may indeed be the case. For today's Jews, unlike on Cable Street in 1936, there are no Catholic dockworkers or Communist agitators to stand shoulder to shoulder. In post-Christian Europe, there aren't a lot of the former (practicing Catholics or practicing dockers), and as for the intellectual Left, it's more enthusiastic in its support of Hamas than many Gazans.

To which there are many Israelis who would brusquely reply: So what? Pity the poor Jew who has ever relied on European "friends." Yet there is a difference of scale between the well-established faculty-lounge disdain for "Israeli apartheid" and a mass psychosis so universal it's part of the air you breathe. For a glimpse of the future, consider the (for the moment) bizarre circumstances of the recent Davis Cup First Round matches in Sweden. They had been scheduled long ago to be played in the Baltiska Hallen stadium in Malmo. Who knew which team the Swedes would draw? Could have been Chile, could have been Serbia. Alas, it was Israel.

Malmo is Sweden's most Muslim city, and citing security concerns, the local council ordered the three days of tennis to be played behind closed doors. Imagine being Amir Hadad and Andy Ram, the Israeli doubles players, or Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt, the Swedes. This was supposed to be their big day. But the vast stadium is empty, except for a few sports reporters and team officials. And just outside the perimeter up to 10,000 demonstrators are chanting, "Stop the match!" and maybe, a little deeper into the throng, they're shouting, "We want to kill all Jews worldwide" (as demonstrators in Copenhagen, just across the water, declared just a few weeks earlier). Did Aspelin and Lindstedt wonder why they couldn't have drawn some less controversial team, like Zimbabwe or Sudan? By all accounts, it was a fine match, thrilling and graceful, with good sportsmanship on both sides. Surely, such splendid tennis could have won over the mob, and newspapers would have reported that by the end of the match the Israeli players had the crowd with them all the way. But they shook 'em off at Helsingborg.

Do you remember the "road map" summit held in Jordan just after the U.S. invasion of Iraq? It seemed a big deal at the time: The leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. president, all the A-list dictators of the Arab League. Inside the swank resort, it was all very collegial, smiles and handshakes. Outside, flags fluttered -- Jordan's, America's, Saudi Arabia's, Egypt's, Palestine's. But not Israel's. King Abdullah of Jordan had concluded it would be too provocative to advertise the Zionist Entity's presence on Jordanian soil even at a summit supposedly boasting they were all on the same page. Malmo's tennis match observed the same conventions: I'm sure the Swedish tennis wallahs were very gracious hosts behind the walls of the stockade, and the unmarked car to the airport was top of the line. How smoothly the furtive maneuvers of the Middle East transfer to the wider world.

___________

When Western governments are as reluctant as King Abdullah to fly the Star of David, those among the citizenry who choose to do so have a hard time. In Britain in January, while "pro-Palestinian" demonstrators were permitted to dress up as hook-nosed Jews drinking the blood of Arab babies, the police ordered counter-protesters to put away their Israeli flags. In Alberta, in the heart of Calgary's Jewish neighborhood, the flag of Hizballah (supposedly a proscribed terrorist organization) was proudly waved by demonstrators, but one solitary Israeli flag was deemed a threat to the Queen's peace and officers told the brave fellow holding it to put it away or be arrested for "inciting public disorder." In Germany, a student in Duisburg put the Star of David in the window of an upstairs apartment on the day of a march by the Islamist group Milli Görüs, only to have the cops smash his door down and remove the flag. He's now trying to get the police to pay for a new door. Ah, those Jews. It's always about money, isn't it?

Peter, the student in Duisberg, says he likes to display the Israeli flag because anti-Semitism in Europe is worse than at any other time since the Second World War. Which is true. But, if you look at it from the authorities' point of view, it's not about Jew-hatred; it's a simple numbers game. If a statistically insignificant Jewish population gets upset, big deal. If the far larger Muslim population -- and, in some French cities, the youth population (i.e., the demographic that riots) is already pushing 50 percent -- you have a serious public-order threat on your hands. We're beyond the anti-Semitic and into the ad hoc utilitarian: The King Abdullah approach will seem like the sensible way to avoid trouble. To modify the UN joke: Whom won't we play? Israel, of course. Not in public.

One Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, a group wearing "BOYCOTT ISRAEL" T-shirts entered a French branch of Carrefour, the world's largest supermarket chain, and announced themselves. They then systematically advanced down every aisle examining every product, seizing all the items made in Israel and piling them into carts to take away and destroy. Judging from the video they made, the protesters were mostly Muslim immigrants and a few French leftists. But more relevant was the passivity of everyone else in the store, both staff and shoppers, all of whom stood idly by as private property was ransacked and smashed, and many of whom when invited to comment expressed support for the destruction. "South Africa started to shake once all countries started to boycott their products," one elderly lady customer said. "So what you're doing, I find it good."

Demographically, in Europe and elsewhere, Islam has the numbers. But ideologically, radical Islam has the decibels.

Others may find Germany in the ‘30s the more instructive comparison. "It isn't silent majorities that drive things, but vocal minorities," the Canadian public intellectual George Jonas recently wrote. "Don't count heads; count decibels. All entities—the United States, the Western world, the Arab street—have prevailing moods, and it's prevailing moods that define aggregates at any given time." Last December, in a well-planned attack on iconic Bombay landmarks symbolizing power and wealth, Pakistani terrorists nevertheless found time to divert one-fifth of their manpower to torturing and killing a handful of obscure Jews helping the city's poor in a nondescript building. If this was a territorial dispute over Kashmir, why kill the only rabbi in Bombay? Because Pakistani Islam has been in effect Arabized. Demographically, in Europe and elsewhere, Islam has the numbers. But ideologically, radical Islam has the decibels -- in Turkey, in the Balkans, in Western Europe.

And the prevailing mood in much of the world makes Israel an easy sacrifice. Long before Muslims are a statistical majority, there will be three permanent members of the Security Council—Britain, France, Russia—for whom the accommodation of Islam is a domestic political imperative.

_____________

On the heels of his call for the incorporation of Sharia within British law, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave an interview to the Muslim News praising Islam for making "a very significant contribution to getting a debate about religion into public life." Well, that's one way of putting it. The urge to look on the bright side of its own remorseless cultural retreat will intensify: Once Europeans have accepted a not entirely voluntary biculturalism, they will see no reason why Israel should not do the same, and they will embrace a one-state, one-man, one-vote solution for the land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.

The Muslim world has spent decades peddling the notion that the reason a vast oil-rich region stretching thousands of miles is politically deformed and mired in grim psychoses is all because of a tiny strip of turf barely wider than my New Hampshire township. It will make an ever more convenient scapegoat for the problems of a far vaster territory from the mountains of Morne to the Urals. There was a fair bit of this in the days after 9/11. As Richard Ingrams wrote on the following weekend in the London i>Observer: "Who will dare to damn Israel?"

Well, take a number and get in line. The dust had barely settled on the London Tube bombings before a reader named Derrick Green sent me a congratulatory e-mail: "I bet you Jewish supremacists think it is Christmas come early, don't you? Incredibly, you are now going to get your own way even more than you did before, and the British people are going to be dragged into more wars for Israel."

In London, the highest number of Jews is found in the 50-54 age group; the highest number of Muslims are found in the four-years-and-under category.

So it will go. British, European, and even American troops will withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, and a bomb will go off in Madrid or Hamburg or Manchester, and there will be nothing left to blame except Israeli "disproportion." For the remnants of European Jewry, the already discernible migration of French Jews to Quebec, Florida, and elsewhere will accelerate. There are about 150,000 Jews in London today -- it's the thirteenth biggest Jewish city in the world. But there are approximately one million Muslims. The highest number of Jews is found in the 50-54 age group; the highest number of Muslims are found in the four-years-and-under category. By 2025, there will be Jews in Israel, and Jews in America, but not in many other places. Even as the legitimacy of a Jewish state is rejected, the Jewish diaspora -- the Jewish presence in the wider world -- will shrivel.

And then, to modify Richard Ingrams, who will dare not to damn Israel? There'll still be a Holocaust Memorial Day, mainly for the pleasures it affords to chastise the new Nazis. As Anthony Lipmann, the Anglican son of an Auschwitz survivor, wrote in 2005: "When on 27 January I take my mother's arm -- tattoo number A-25466 -- I will think not just of the crematoria and the cattle trucks but of Darfur, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Jenin, Fallujah." Jenin?

You can see why they'll keep Holocaust Day on the calendar: In an age when politicians are indifferent or downright hostile to Israel's "right to exist," it's useful to be able to say, "But some of my best photo-ops are Jewish."

The joke about Mandatory Palestine was that it was the twice-promised land. But isn't that Europe, too? And perhaps Russia and maybe Canada, a little ways down the line? Two cultures jostling within the same piece of real estate. Not long ago, I found myself watching the video of another "pro-Palestinian" protest in central London with the Metropolitan Police retreating up St. James's Street to Piccadilly in the face of a mob hurling traffic cones and jeering, "Run, run, you cowards!" and "Allahu akbar!" You would think the deluded multi-culti progressives would understand: In the end, this isn't about Gaza, this isn't about the Middle East; it's about them. It may be some consolation to an ever-lonelier Israel that, in one of history's bleaker jests, in the coming Europe the Europeans will be the new Jews.

About the Author

Visitor Comments: 21

(21)
Anonymous,
July 10, 2009 7:37 AM

Chilling how prophecy is rapidly taking form

Not only does this author have cutting, laser-like precision in his insight and dead-on perception of what is truly taking place, but he says like-it-is with humour and biting irony (which appropriately mocks, once again, with laser-like precision, the stupidity and blindness of the aforementioned persons/opinions; in other-words, an irony within an irony)
This article is like the 'Torah Codes' of the modern world, because it crystallizes modern events, and simultaneously clarifies, for anyone who's even a basic student of prophecy, how the world has, and especially now is, taking the shape, with chilling and sobering accuracy, of the future visions foretold by Israel's prophets. We are on track and the train is about to arrive at the station on time, but most of the world is sleeping. It is only those who care to study prophecy, history, modern events, and then take a step back and look at the 'big picture', who truly understand what is unfolding.
Those intelligent persons who read this article will undoubtedly be prompted to ask: "What is going on in our supposedly 'enlightened' world? Has the entire world, indeed, finally gone senseless, mad, or both? Perhaps it's 'only' a severe form of narcolepsy?"
Either way, the reader will certainly ask: "What's this all leading to?"
To answer that very briefly, you will most certainly want to read Joel 3:2, and Isaiah 60:1-5
What exciting times we're living in. May all the righteous alive today live to see the above prophecies fulfilled in our lifetime.

(20)
Linda,
July 8, 2009 1:53 PM

Thank you for the article

Most people are blind to what's happening, here in the states, the acceptance and intermingling of other cultures is being pushed to the point of now you had better not say anything about anyone, or it will be a hate crime. So in the end we will allow what is evil and hurtful to our country, and we'll be "nice" to the muslims, even the ones that are terrorists, secretly. And in the end, we will ultimately take sides (with this president running things) with the world against Israel. But some of us will never be against you. God gave you to us as a gift, the beginning of our laws and civilazation began with you Israel, and the world hates you,(as it hates and ignors HIM) because, even with all your mistakes, You will still hold up God's ancient laws of Right living.
God will have His say in the end, God be with Israel now and in the hour of her greatest need.

(19)
Wassim,
July 7, 2009 12:01 AM

response 2 to JP #17

"We accept other religions as a natural variation within humanity." ... this is your biggest mistake in my view. It seems to me that both Christianity and Islam have appropriated much of your material and rather than paying you due credit, they're actively doing their best to drive you out of the market. You need to arm yourselves with truth and go to marketing-war for the benefit of humanity. 3 or more interpritations of God is a recipe for on-going ideolodical conflict.

(18)
JP,
July 6, 2009 3:08 AM

response to "a light to the nations"

What do you mean Judaism is an exclusivity club? 1 out of 8 Jews in the U.S. is a convert. That's not a very exclusive club. Historically and in modern times, Judaism is overwhelmingly accepting of converts.
Also, we do pray twice daily for "the righteous of every nation" (i.e.--non-Jews) so it seems that you are making this accusation without any even passing familiarity with Jewish liturgy.
As for "stop warning us not to be Jews" -- Judaism is one of the few religions that does not proselytize. We do not warn anyone not to be Jews. We accept other religions as a natural variation within humanity. You will be hard-pressed to find any contemporary Jews preaching fire and brimstone against Gentiles, or threatening non-believers with hell. Those are distinctly un-Jewish beliefs.

(17)
Wassim,
July 5, 2009 11:36 PM

It's not easy, being chosen, is it? You need to recruit some fresh blood.

I was watching Schindler's List last night (for the umpteenth time), my wife asked my "Why do you watch that even though though you've seen it before and you know what happens?". I said "Because if people forget what happened, they will forget the lesson, and although I haven't forgotten I want to feel it again."
To think that it happened only 70 years ago! Europe is not as civilised as the history books would have you believe.

(16)
Anonymous,
July 5, 2009 8:42 AM

a light unto the nations

I've been asking myself why so many ppl hate the Jews, Israel. The answer that came to me is that the Jews were supposed to be a light unto the nations, and they have set an example but also maintained an exclusivity club where very few can enter and be a part of the "chosen". Basically the hate is a sort of sibling rivalry and while the Jews are basically innocent as far as an older child is able to provoke a younger one in to tantrums and look all innocent, the Jews have acted as the older sister, never quite accepting her younger sisters in. Gd can love us all. Let us in, stop warning us not to be Jews, if we want to be, stop excluding us from prayers, just stop. Welcome us who want to be chosen as well.

(15)
Wassim,
July 5, 2009 7:24 AM

Damn these comment length restrictions!

It's facinating, the difference in the philosophy of the Jew in New York and the Jew in Israel.
Mr Steyn is telling us about a group of children who don't know how to look left and right before crossing the road. He's telling us they're going to get hit by cars.
Well, you've got a God-given mandate to teach them how, not just watch as it happens and blame them for being children. When will Israel become active in persuing peace, rather than maintaining a defensive stance. You need to spread your Torah and replace the Koran.

(14)
Anonymous,
July 5, 2009 7:03 AM

Unrealistic Hopes - part 2

The more refined conclusion, is to take into account the disadvantage of being an idiot, raised by idiots, living in a society full of idiots... we can take all of this into account and try (painful as it might be) to put ourselves in their idiotic shoes. Let's see what the world looks like from the perspective of an idiot... and as far as the article above is concerned, we only need to consider 2 types of idiots... the Muslim idiot and the European idiot. The Muslim idiot is a victim of reading. Not reading too much, but rather only reading ONE book (and not even interpriting it correctly). The European idiot really doesn't stand for anything of principle other than "peace". The European idiot thinks that anything is OK as long as it doesn't harm anybody else. The biggest threat to the European idiot, is the determination and drive of the Muslim idiot. One idiot has the audacity to allow his beliefs to control his emotions, and the other idiot sympathizes with this selfish individualism. They have self-interest, and jealousy of Jews in common... so they're destined to flock together.

(13)
Anonymous,
July 5, 2009 7:01 AM

Unrealistic Hopes - part 1

Mr Steyn does a good enough job of telling us WHAT is happening, but he seems at a loss to explain WHY it is happening. Allow me to try...
The easiest conclusion to draw is that the world's population is majority (and there's no polite way of saying this) idiots who have been drawn into popular culture, sport, sensationalist media and they're generally under-educated. This is not polite to say, but it is absolutely true. Idiots, idiots, everywhere as far as the eye can see. I wish they would simplly disappear, but they won't and they are everywhere and they breed like rabbits and then we have another generation of idiots to live with.

(12)
JANE,
July 3, 2009 2:12 PM

IT DOESNT PAY TO FIGHT THE JEWS

Look at all the civilisations that have come and gone, yet the Jewish race, the eternal people are still here. In my mind the death knell of any civilisation that is in contact with the Jews, sounds when they begin to practice anti-semitism. G-d's judgement is perfect. Because most of Europe sought to eliminate the Jew, they themselves will be eliminated by another civilisation/religion, Islam.
We in Africa know well that our problems go back to Egypt and the enslavement of the Jews.Let the few in Europe who understand begin to make Teshuva, and perhaps The G-d of Israel will remember mercy on them.

(11)
Anonymous,
July 3, 2009 6:45 AM

world peace

the greatest threat to world peace is apathy.

(10)
Anonymous,
July 2, 2009 7:03 AM

five finger clarity

nothing is beyond the will,wisdom, reach, power and authority of God.If all the world were islamic then what?a religion fed on hate? when there is nothing left to conquer it will turn on itself and self-destruct. does this sound like God's plan?Relax and remember-Man plans;God laughs.bring the peace of God into your mind, heart and soul and fear not.

(9)
Anonymous,
July 2, 2009 4:23 AM

I don't understand the line about "chavs" and "slappers". Will somebody please explain it?

(8)
ytba,
July 1, 2009 5:54 PM

What They Want To Do To Us....

will happen to them. King David say in a number of places in Tehillim that they will fall into the trap they have set for us.

(7)
Øystein Hansen,
June 29, 2009 3:48 PM

I am afraid ugly times are ahead.

I agree with Pauline (6).This is basically a spiritual battle. And it`s about good and evil. Of course the rising - almost exploding - hatred of Jews are caused by more Muslim immigrants to Europe, but it is also due to the changing of minds of the europeans themselves. Here in Norway we have seen a dramatic change for the worse.
These days we better turn to our Bible rather than to socalled leftwing and political correct experts to find out what happens. And it is ugly times ahead. But the Lord will eventually fight for Israel, and make Israel shine forever.

(6)
Pauline,
June 29, 2009 12:16 PM

But God

To keep one's perspective and sanity about the times we're living in, we must never forget that promise to Abraham, "I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee . . . ." The battle belongs to the Lord. It is a spiritual battle. So I continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all Jews everywhere.

(5)
Cathryn,
June 29, 2009 5:31 AM

Scary!

Those stats about the size of the Muslim populations in certain European countries is very scary! I watched a video recently (possibly on aish...?) with a Muslim man saying that America will be a Muslim country by 2050 (he wishes!)!!! EXTREMELY scary. And there is a bank in Australia that is planning on giving interest-free loans to Muslims based on Sharia law. I know exactly why all this is happening! Everyone has been scared into submission! Scared of terrorism, and scared of not having access to oil! People need to be warned about this threat, and these stats!!! Every country being forced to become a Muslim nation at some point in the future is a lot more scary than having one tiny Jewish state! In fact, having one tiny Jewish state isn't scary at all - NOT having one is scary!

(4)
AliceL.,
June 28, 2009 7:18 PM

Absolutely depressing -

but not surprising! The Far Left has allied itself with Islamofascists against the Jews and Western culture in general. Pretty ironic, isn't it! The Far Left which claims it cares about "rights" does not give a hoot about Jews. And not about women either who are the biggest victims of Islam.

(3)
name,
June 28, 2009 6:19 PM

"If this was a territorial dispute over Kashmir, why kill the only rabbi in Bombay? Because Pakistani Islam has been in effect Arabized."
Wrong
They both share the same Prophet, Mohammed, who said that the end of the world will not come until the Muslims kill all the Jews

(2)
Leonard/Leib Yitzchok,
June 28, 2009 6:12 PM

Mark Steyn Does It Once Again...

Mark Steyn's wit and wisdom is direct and on point! He says it well when so many others delve in the devious ways of temporary political correctness or looking for a hole to crawl into...after all, why should they speak the truth when a really good lie will do just fine. As Jews, we are on are own...where ever that leads us. G-d bless America if there is anything left of it after the so-called progressives get through with it!

(1)
aspacia,
June 28, 2009 2:47 PM

Yes, but we in the U.S. are retaliating

CAIR is in deep guano. Many U.S. Musims, and individuals of all faiths (agnostic, atheist) realize there is a problem, and even Obama could not prevent the FBI from breaking ties with CAIR.
As an instructor, I am in contact with people of all nationalities, we are a melting pot. Most, except those of LA Raza, etc., love this land.
Do not believe the MSM's, and university professor's liberal slant. Heck, many students from Africa, have argued that the U.S.A. should more often intervene in global problems.
At the moment, many mosques, and Muslim communities are be scrutinized by law enforcement.

I'm told that it's a mitzvah to become intoxicated on Purim. This puzzles me, because to my understanding, it is not considered a good thing to become intoxicated, period.

One of the characteristics of the at-risk youth is their use of drugs, including alcohol. In my experience, getting drunk doesn't reveal secrets. It makes people act stupid and irresponsible, doing things they would never do if they were sober. Also, I know a lot about the horrible health effects of abusing alcohol, because I work at a research center that focuses on addiction and substance abuse.

Also, I am an alcoholic, which means that if I drink, very bad things happen. I have not had a drink in 22 years, and I have no intention of starting now. Surely there must be instances where a person is excused from the obligation to drink. I don't see how Judaism could ever promote the idea of getting drunk. It just doesn't seem right.

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Putting aside for a moment all the spiritual and philosophical reasons for getting drunk on Purim, this remains an issue of common sense. Of course, teenagers should be warned of the dangers of acute alcohol ingestion. Of course, nobody should drink and drive. Of course, nobody should become so drunk to the point of negligence in performing mitzvot. And of course, a recovering alcoholic should not partake of alcohol on Purim.

Indeed, the Code of Jewish Law explicitly says that if one suspects the drinking may affect him negatively, then he should NOT drink.

Getting drunk on Purim is actually one of the most difficult mitzvot to do correctly. A person should only drink if it will lead to positive spiritual results - e.g. under the loosening affect of the alcohol, greater awareness will surface of the love for God and Torah found deep in the heart. (Perhaps if we were on a higher spiritual level, we wouldn't need to get drunk!)

Yet the Talmud still speaks of an obligation on Purim of "not knowing the difference between Blessed is Mordechai and Cursed is Haman." How then should a person who doesn't drink get the point of “not knowing”? Simple - just go to sleep! (Rama - OC 695:2)

All this applies to individuals. But the question remains - does drinking on Purim adversely affect the collective social health of the Jewish community?

The aversion to alcoholism is engrained into Jewish consciousness from a number of Biblical and Talmudic sources. There are the rebuking words of prophets - Isaiah 28:1, Hosea 3:1 with Rashi, and Amos 6:6, and the Zohar says that "The wicked stray after wine" (Midrash Ne'alam Parshat Vayera).

It is well known that the rate of alcoholism among Jews has historically been very low. Numerous medical, psychological and sociological studies have confirmed this. The connection between Judaism and sobriety is so evident, that the following conversation is reported by Lawrence Kelemen in "Permission to Receive":

When Dr. Mark Keller, editor of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, commented that "practically all Jews do drink, and yet all the world knows that Jews hardly ever become alcoholics," his colleague, Dr. Howard Haggard, director of Yale's Laboratory of Applied Physiology, jokingly proposed converting alcoholics to the Jewish religion in order to immerse them in a culture with healthy attitudes toward drinking!

Perhaps we could suggest that it is precisely because of the use of alcohol in traditional ceremonies (Kiddush, Bris, Purim, etc.), that Jews experience such low rates of alcoholism. This ceremonial usage may actually act like an inoculation - i.e. injecting a safe amount that keeps the disease away.

Of course, as we said earlier, all this needs to be monitored with good common sense. Yet in my personal experience - having been in the company of Torah scholars who were totally drunk on Purim - they acted with extreme gentleness and joy. Amid the Jewish songs and beautiful words of Torah, every year the event is, for me, very special.

Adar 12 marks the dedication of Herod's renovations on the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 11 BCE. Herod was king of Judea in the first century BCE who constructed grand projects like the fortresses at Masada and Herodium, the city of Caesarea, and fortifications around the old city of Jerusalem. The most ambitious of Herod's projects was the re-building of the Temple, which was in disrepair after standing over 300 years. Herod's renovations included a huge man-made platform that remains today the largest man-made platform in the world. It took 10,000 men 10 years just to build the retaining walls around the Temple Mount; the Western Wall that we know today is part of that retaining wall. The Temple itself was a phenomenal site, covered in gold and marble. As the Talmud says, "He who has not seen Herod's building, has never in his life seen a truly grand building."

Some people gauge the value of themselves by what they own. But in reality, the entire concept of ownership of possessions is based on an illusion. When you obtain a material object, it does not become part of you. Ownership is merely your right to use specific objects whenever you wish.

How unfortunate is the person who has an ambition to cleave to something impossible to cleave to! Such a person will not obtain what he desires and will experience suffering.

Fortunate is the person whose ambition it is to acquire personal growth that is independent of external factors. Such a person will lead a happy and rewarding life.

With exercising patience you could have saved yourself 400 zuzim (Berachos 20a).

This Talmudic proverb arose from a case where someone was fined 400 zuzim because he acted in undue haste and insulted some one.

I was once pulling into a parking lot. Since I was a bit late for an important appointment, I was terribly annoyed that the lead car in the procession was creeping at a snail's pace. The driver immediately in front of me was showing his impatience by sounding his horn. In my aggravation, I wanted to join him, but I saw no real purpose in adding to the cacophony.

When the lead driver finally pulled into a parking space, I saw a wheelchair symbol on his rear license plate. He was handicapped and was obviously in need of the nearest parking space. I felt bad that I had harbored such hostile feelings about him, but was gratified that I had not sounded my horn, because then I would really have felt guilty for my lack of consideration.

This incident has helped me to delay my reactions to other frustrating situations until I have more time to evaluate all the circumstances. My motives do not stem from lofty principles, but from my desire to avoid having to feel guilt and remorse for having been foolish or inconsiderate.

Today I shall...

try to withhold impulsive reaction, bearing in mind that a hasty act performed without full knowledge of all the circumstances may cause me much distress.

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